# Best Apps for a Workplace Step Challenge (2026): Prices Compared

**Published:** 2026-10-19
**Updated:** 2026-10-19
**Author:** The Outstep team
**Canonical:** https://outstepapp.com/blog/workplace-step-challenge-apps

> For a team step challenge of up to 500 people at a published price, Outstep Group Premium costs $49.99/month for 100 people and $199.99/month for 500, with team challenges and anti-cheat built in. Pacer for Teams ($454/month for 100) adds admin exports and score overrides. StepUp is free for up to 15,000 but has no team scoring. For a full wellness program with rewards, HR integrations and an account manager, look at Wellable, YuMuuv, GoJoe or Stridekick Unlimited.

An office step challenge needs four things: everyone can join from whatever phone and watch they own, teams can compete, the results are fair, and it doesn't cost more than the prizes. Workplace platforms range from free apps to enterprise wellness suites quoted by sales teams, and few of them publish prices.

We make Outstep, which is on this list. The prices below come from each vendor's own pricing page, **checked October 19, 2026**. Several vendors only show prices through an on-page calculator; we've labelled those "calculator price". They're estimates, not quotes.

## Workplace step challenge platforms at a glance

| Platform | 100 people | 500 people | Team challenges | Anti-cheat | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Outstep** | $49.99/mo | $199.99/mo | Yes, 2–6 teams | Manual steps never count; Strict mode; hourly audit | Team challenges up to 500, self-serve |
| **Pacer for Teams** | $454/mo | $1,429/mo | Yes | Optional manual entry; admin score override | Published pricing plus admin exports |
| **StepUp** | Free | Free | No (one group per team) | Manual entry blocked | Zero-budget, very large groups |
| **Stridekick** | Unlimited plan (quote) | Unlimited plan (quote) | Unlimited plan only | Daily caps, rescoring (Unlimited) | Multi-activity programs with an account manager |
| **Wellable** | $225/mo (Essentials) | $625/mo (Essentials) | Yes | Recommends caps, no manual entry | Year-round wellness with rewards |
| **YuMuuv** | $1,700 (1-month plan) | $3,700 (1-month plan) | Yes | Not published | Multi-language, pay per participant |
| **GoJoe** | About £1,286 (one-off) | About £4,606 (one-off) | Yes | Not published | Global, multi-activity team challenges |
| **Personify Health** | Quote | Quote | Yes | Validated steps, point caps | Large employers, tied to benefits |

Wellable, YuMuuv and GoJoe figures are calculator prices. Outstep's are App Store and Google Play subscription prices.

## What to look for in a workplace step challenge app

- **Device coverage.** Your colleagues have iPhones, Androids, Apple Watches, Fitbits, Garmins and no watch at all. The app should read Apple Health and Android's Health Connect, and count steps from the phone alone.
- **Team challenges.** Department-vs-department or randomly mixed teams get more people involved than an individual leaderboard, and they're fairer to less active colleagues.
- **Fair scoring.** Prize money attracts cheating. Look for blocked manual entries, daily caps or an audit view. Our [cheating guide](/blog/step-challenge-cheating) covers the tricks.
- **Privacy.** Decide what colleagues can see. Steps are health data; avoid public profiles.
- **Effort.** Self-serve apps take an afternoon. Enterprise platforms can take weeks of procurement.

## 1. Outstep: best for team challenges up to 500 people

**Outstep** is a social step-competition app, not an HR suite, and that's its appeal for a simple office challenge: one admin sets up a private group, colleagues join with a code, and it's running the same day.

- **Group sizes:** Group Premium holds 50, 100, 250 or 500 people.
- **Prices:** 50 people $6.99/month or $49.99/year; 100 people $49.99/month or $449.99/year; 250 people $109.99/month or $999.99/year; 500 people $199.99/month. One person backs the group; everyone in it gets the perks.
- **Team challenges:** 2 to 6 teams, formed automatically to balance the last 28 days of steps, shuffled randomly, or arranged by hand. Admins can move people between teams mid-challenge, and uneven teams rank by average per member.
- **Formats:** Leaderboard, Group target (the whole office pools steps toward one goal), Race to X, Survivor (a rising daily bar), and Step Up (scored against each person's own baseline, so improvement beats raw fitness).
- **Anti-cheat:** manually entered steps never count. **Strict mode** counts only steps recorded by each person's phone (and Apple Watch on iPhone), and **Step audit** shows admins each person's steps by hour, flagging hours over 10,000, days over 50,000 and suspiciously steady patterns. Admins can exclude someone from a challenge.
- **Admin controls:** up to 5 co-admins, a setting for who can start challenges, and the option to mute notifications for everyone.

**Not ideal if** you need SSO, HRIS integration, invoicing, a rewards catalogue or data exports for HR. Outstep is billed as an app subscription through the App Store or Google Play, and it only scores steps. Strict mode also excludes third-party wearables like Garmin and Fitbit, so tell people before you switch it on.

> **Try Outstep free:** private groups, live leaderboards and an alert the second someone passes you. [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6768469919) · [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.outstepapp.outstep)

## 2. Pacer for Teams: best for published pricing with admin tools

Pacer's workplace product publishes its prices on a slider: **$454/month for 100 participants, $1,429 for 500 and $2,495 for 1,000**, with no minimums or contract and a 7-day free trial for up to 10 people. It has individual and team leaderboards, teams by department or location, up to 5 extra admins, full data export and API access, and admins can **manually override scores**. Steps can come from the phone alone, and manual entry with step conversion is optional.

## 3. StepUp: best free option for very large groups

**StepUp** is free with ads and holds up to **15,000 people** per group. Admins can export reports for any date range, set a custom challenge window, remove members and turn off chat. It blocks manually added steps "to prevent misuse".

The catch for workplaces: no team-vs-team scoring. StepUp's own suggestion is one group per team, compared using exported reports. See [Outstep vs StepUp](/blog/outstep-vs-stepup).

## 4. Stridekick: best for multi-activity programs with an account manager

**Stridekick** scores steps, distance, active minutes or custom activities. Pro covers up to 50 people for $49.99/month, but **team mode is only on the Unlimited plan**, priced by quote, which adds unlimited participants, 90-day challenges, an admin dashboard with reports, daily activity caps, rescoring and a dedicated account manager. Users must be 18 or older. See [Outstep vs Stridekick](/blog/outstep-vs-stridekick).

## 5. Wellable: best for a year-round wellness program

**Wellable** is a broader wellness platform with 40+ challenge types, team and individual leaderboards, and gift-card rewards in 55+ countries. Its calculator prices Essentials at **$2.25 per user per month for 100 users** and **$1.25 for 500**, with a 25-user minimum; Pro costs more. Wellable's own guidance recommends daily step caps and removing manual entry.

## 6. YuMuuv: best for international teams

**YuMuuv** charges for people who actually register, not total headcount. Its calculator shows **$1,700 for 100 users** and **$3,700 for 500** on a one-month plan, which includes about seven weeks of access, with discounts for shorter challenges and multipliers for longer ones. It supports 47 languages and lets each employee invite up to 10 friends or family free. It says it is GDPR and SOC 2 compliant.

## 7. GoJoe: best for global, multi-activity team challenges

UK-based **GoJoe** centres on team challenges across 60+ weighted activity types, not just steps. Its calculator puts a one-off challenge at about **£1,286 for 100 people** and **£4,606 for 500**, with an annual plan for unlimited challenges. One-off challenges usually run 2 to 6 weeks. HRIS integration and SSO are paid add-ons.

## 8. Personify Health: best for large employers tied to benefits

**Personify Health** (formerly Virgin Pulse, renamed in 2024) is an enterprise health platform where step challenges sit inside a wider benefits and incentives program. Pricing isn't published. Employer guides show it credits validated tracker steps and caps daily points.

## What happened to MoveSpring?

MoveSpring was acquired by Reward Gateway in 2022, and Reward Gateway by Edenred in 2023. It now lives on as Reward Gateway's Wellbeing+ and isn't sold on its own; movespring.com redirects to Reward Gateway. Its help center still has some of the best public anti-cheat guidance, including the rule of thumb that over 50,000 steps in a day is unusually high but not proof of cheating on its own.

## Can you use Strava for an office step challenge?

Not really. Strava clubs rank activities by distance or time for one sport type, not all-day steps, and Strava Group Challenges require a subscription to create or join. It's a good fit for an office running club, not a step challenge.

## How to run an office step challenge

1. **Keep it short.** Two to six weeks is the norm. Two weeks is a good first challenge; run it in rounds so everyone gets a fresh start.
2. **Use teams.** Teams of 3 to 6 work well, and research trials have used groups of 3 to 6. Balance teams by recent activity, or shuffle them, so one department of runners doesn't win by default.
3. **Reward participation, not just the top.** StepUp's own advice: prizes for "most steps" can discourage everyone else, so consider a random prize draw among everyone who hits a goal. Add a "most improved" prize; Outstep's Step Up format scores exactly that.
4. **Set the rules up front.** Which steps count? Is there a daily cap? Can people without a smartphone take part?
5. **Turn on cheat protection before it starts.** Changing the rules mid-challenge feels like an accusation.
6. **Mind privacy.** Make it opt-in, and tell people what colleagues and managers will see.
7. **Set honest expectations.** Step challenges are good for energy and team spirit. A 2020 Cochrane review found that the long-term effects of workplace pedometer programs on activity are uncertain, so treat it as a recurring event, not a one-off fix.

## Do step competitions actually work?

The best evidence says competition helps. In the STEP UP trial (JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019), around 600 Deloitte employees were split into control, support, collaboration and competition groups for 24 weeks. Compared with control, the **competition** group walked **920 more steps a day**, more than support (689) or collaboration (637). Twelve weeks after the game ended, competition was the only arm still significantly ahead, at 569 steps a day.

A 2016 trial of team-based incentives found that a combination of individual and team rewards beat either one alone, which is a good argument for team challenges with an individual leaderboard alongside.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the best free app for a workplace step challenge?

StepUp is free for groups of up to 15,000 people, with ads and no team scoring. Outstep is free for groups of up to 8, which suits a small team; bigger groups need Group Premium, from $49.99/month for 100 people.

### How much does a corporate step challenge platform cost?

From published prices in October 2026: Outstep $49.99/month for 100 people; Wellable Essentials about $225/month for 100 users; Pacer for Teams $454/month for 100; YuMuuv $1,700 for a one-month plan for 100; GoJoe about £1,286 for a one-off challenge for 100. Stridekick Unlimited, Personify Health and Reward Gateway Wellbeing+ are quoted.

### How long should a workplace step challenge be?

Most vendors and HR guides recommend 2 to 6 weeks, with 4 weeks as a common default. Two weeks makes a good first challenge.

### How do you make a step challenge fair for less active colleagues?

Use teams balanced by recent activity, team averages rather than totals, and a format that rewards improvement, like Outstep's Step Up. Give prizes by random draw among everyone who hits a goal rather than only to the top walker.

### How do you stop cheating in an office step challenge?

Block manually entered steps, set a daily cap or review unusually high days, and count only steps recorded by a phone or watch. See our full guide to [stopping cheating in a step challenge](/blog/step-challenge-cheating).

### Can people without a smartwatch join?

Yes, in every app on this list except Strava, which needs GPS-recorded activities. Phones count steps on their own; a watch just catches steps when the phone is on the desk.

## Sources

- [Pacer for Teams](https://www.mypacer.com/teams) (Pacer)
- [StepUp website and FAQ](https://thestepupapp.com/) (StepUp)
- [Stridekick pricing](https://www.stridekick.com/pricing) (Stridekick)
- [Wellable subscription pricing](https://www.wellable.co/pricing/subscriptions/) (Wellable)
- [YuMuuv pricing](https://yumuuv.com/pricing) (YuMuuv)
- [GoJoe pricing](https://www.gojoe.com/pricing) (GoJoe)
- [Virgin Pulse and HealthComp rebrand as Personify Health](https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/virgin-pulse-healthcomp-rebrand-personify-health-following-3b-merger) (MobiHealthNews)
- [Reward Gateway acquires MoveSpring](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220322005255/en/Reward-Gateway-Acquires-MoveSpring) (Business Wire)
- [Edenred acquires Reward Gateway](https://www.rewardgateway.com/press-releases/edenred-acquires-reward-gateway) (Reward Gateway)
- [How to review a user's activity data](https://help.movespring.com/en/articles/7039709-how-to-review-a-user-s-activity-data-from-the-admin-center) (MoveSpring Help)
- [Clubs on Strava](https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216918347-Clubs-on-Strava) (Strava Support)
- [The STEP UP randomized clinical trial](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31498375/) (JAMA Internal Medicine, via PubMed)
- [Individual versus team-based financial incentives to increase physical activity](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26976287/) (Journal of General Internal Medicine, via PubMed)
- [Workplace pedometer interventions for increasing physical activity](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32700325/) (Cochrane, via PubMed)